History Literature / Dragons

[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/self_negating_lace.png]]
The ''Dragons'' series (also called ''The Last Dragon Chronicles,'' but we're going with the first title used for the series here) is a group of bestselling children's fantasy novels, by the English author Chris d'Lacey. The series began in 2001, and is still going. As of this writing, there are seven main books in the series, plus a spinoff series for young readers.

The series begins when David, an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary College Student]], starts looking for a place to stay during his term. He finds a woman named Elizabeth "Liz" Pennykettle, who is renting out part of her house on a street called Wayward Crescent. David moves in with her and her ten-year-old daughter, Lucy. Liz is an artist -- she makes clay dragons, and even gives David a dragon of his own, whom he names Gadzooks. As David settles into life with the Pennykettles, he starts noticing strange things -- movement in the corner of his eye here, the feeling of being watched there, and odd noises everywhere. Through his adventures with Lucy, he soon realizes that there is more to the Pennykettles than there seems. Some of the dragons they make are just statuary, but some of them are ''alive.'' David refuses to believe this at first - but his sudden inspiration to write stories, and Gadzooks' own pen and paper, soon force him into believing that there is more to Wayward Crescent than meets the eye.

David is soon dragged deep into the secret history and world of dragons. Liz and Lucy are among the last protectors of the world's dragons -- descendants of Guinivere, a maiden who befriended the last "true" dragon. Dragons aren't the big beasts they once were -- now, they must take clay bodies. But they still have dragon's sparks, deep down. And David and the Pennykettles must protect them from all who would do them harm!

The books in the main series are:

* ''The Fire Within''
* ''Icefire''
* ''Fire Star''
* ''The Fire Eternal''
* ''Dark Fire''
* ''Fire World''
* ''The Fire Ascending''

Fair warning: This series likes to do [[MindScrew interesting things to your mind.]]

----
!! This series contains examples of:

* AesopAmnesia: Despite seeing the dragons ''alive'' at the end of the first book, he's back to [[ArbitrarySkepticism doubting their existence]] in the second.
* AlternateRealityEpisode: [[spoiler: Fire World.]]
** [[spoiler: Fire Ascending goes through quite a few.]]
* AmnesiacGod: Actually it'd be [[spoiler: Amnesiac Fain,]] but for all intents and purposes, [[spoiler: David and Alexa]] would be very nearly as powerful.
* AnyoneCanDie: Taken to extremes in ''The Fire Ascending''. [[spoiler:Liz...]] Seriously!
* ArbitrarySkepticism: David doubting the dragons at first is completely logical, but by the second book, one wonders why his WeirdnessCensor is so hardy.
* ArcWords: "Sometimes".
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: The fourth book reveals that David did this, and at the end he gets better.]]
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: All of the protagonists are described as - at the very least - good-looking at some point. Then, most bad guys are ugly as road kill. [[spoiler:AND THEN you have everyone who got infected by the Shadow - horribly deformed. But they're back to being pretty after it's gone.]]
* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: [[spoiler: Zanna's pregnancy]] is announced shortly after [[spoiler: David's apparent death]].
* BloodierAndGorier: ''The Fire Ascending''. Ho boy...
* BolivianArmyEnding: ''Dark Fire.''
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: ''Everyone'' under the control of the Ix.
* BrattyHalfPint: Lucy, Grella and Rosa all slot into this trope at some point in their lives.
* CerebusSyndrome: One of the most dramatic examples in recent children's fiction - the first book is an adorable, harmless romp. By the third book, we have [[spoiler: David ''killed'' via an ice spike ''through the chest.'']]
* TheChosenMany: [[spoiler:Liz and Lucy aren't the only descendants of Guinevere running around, and on the flipside, Gwilanna isn't the only nasty sibyl...]]
** [[spoiler: In ''Fire World'', the Tapestry of Isenfier features David, Rosa, Penny, Angel, Gadzooks, and Mathew.]]
* CoverDrop: From Fire Star onwards, a dragon matching the cover art is described somewhere in each book.
* DisappearedDad: Lucy's father. [[spoiler: It wasn't his fault he left; not really. She and her mother get him back.]]
* DivineRaceLift: [[spoiler: "Female god" version. However, She ''is'' also a ''dragon...'']]
* TheEndOrIsIt: The ending of Fire Ascending, though specified as definite by D'lacey, seemed... less then definite. [[spoiler: Though the ending was played off as a NestedStoryReveal, Bergstrom had the mark of Oomara which David never knew about, and Gadzooks [[RealAfterAll came alive]] on Elizabeth's grave...]]
* EyeScream: In the Fire Ascending. When Hilde orders a raven to peck an eye from a dead man's socket so as to bring vengeance to his murderer. And again, only pages later, the same bird shows up with BOTH eyes gouged out as a warning from Voss. What a charming guy, right?
* ExpressDelivery: [[spoiler: It does not take long for the quickened bronze egg to turn into a baby. Too bad Gwilanna turned him from a perfectly normal (well, for a Pennykettle) boy into a dragon.]]
* TheFairFolk: The Fain, though they are ''far'' from the fairies of traditional myth.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
** [[MauveShirt Minor character]] Hannah in ''Dark Fire'' gets torn apart in an ''incredibly'' vicious way due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time--she is [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled through the chest]] on a dragon's talon, with ''visceral'' descriptions of her blood oozing down and her organs ''popping through her skin speared on the dragon's claws.'' [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This series is targeted at the 8-12 age bracket, of course.]]
** Hell, Ms. Gee's death too, which occurs shortly after Hannah's. She has her flesh stripped away by being drenched in gallons of dragon urine [[spoiler:from the awakening Gawaine]], to the point where there's nothing left but her ''skeleton'' - which then ''disintegrates''.
* FusionDance: This happens when the Fain "commingle." [[spoiler: By the end of Book Four, David also contains Ingavar, Thoran, Dr. Bergstrom, ''and'' G'lant. That's a lotta people in one body.]]
* GRatedSex: It is possible for descendants of Gwendolyn to "quicken" (become pregnant) when thinking about motherhood or the ones they love, which typically results in [[WhaleEgg human babies born from clay eggs.]] In one case, however, a bit of [[AWizardDidIt magic]] results in a ''dragon baby'' being born in such a fashion. ItMakesSenseInContext.
** Similarly, in the third book in the series, ''Fire Star,'' it's revealed that [[spoiler:Zanna is pregnant with David's baby.]] Since this is a children's book series, no direct reference to them having sex is ever mentioned.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GooGooGodlike: [[spoiler:Alexa. She ''created her own father.'' Oh, and Joseph Henry is just as bad]].
* {{God}}: [[spoiler:Is the first dragon, named Godith. ''All'' dragon's names [[ThemeNaming start with G.]] [[RunningGag Every last one.]]]]
* HappilyMarried: David and Zanna, [[spoiler:Liz]] and [[spoiler:Arthur]], [[spoiler:Lucy]] and [[spoiler:Tam]].
* TheHeart: Liz.
* {{Gorn}}: The series has plenty of dark and violent moments, especially ''Fire Star'', but ''Dark Fire'' is suddenly '''bloody as hell.'''
** ''The Fire Ascending'' as well.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: David dies at the end of ''Fire Star''. Initially, this looked like it would be the end of the series (and in fact, it was originally planned to be), making it an unusually harsh ending for a book aimed at the 8-12 bracket. The series ''did'' [[TrilogyCreep creep on,]] and David came [[BackFromTheDead Back From The]] [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Higher Plane Of Existence,]] with the implication being that ''he became one with {{God}}(ith) and saw all the knowledge in the universe through his daughter's eyes''; but if you're not aware of this, the ending of ''Fire Star'' can be a real punch]].
* HonoraryUncle: Liz and [[spoiler:Arthur]] are this to Alexa.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every book has the word "Fire" in its title.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: An ice spike through the chest is what does in [[spoiler: David, the [[TheHeroDies protagonist himself]]]]. Yes, it is gut-wrenching.
** And lets not forget [[spoiler: Hannah, a minor character in ''Dark Fire'',]] who got impaled by [[spoiler: Gawaine's claws.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: David and Lucy forge a bond over trying to rescue a squirrel named Conker. [[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay No, not that one.]]
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: After main character David goes on a particularly ''emphatic'' rant, his landlady Liz soothes him: "David, stop talking in italics. It doesn't help anything."
* LighterAndSofter: The Dragons of Wayward Crescent spin-off series, focusing on the dragons themselves, is written for very young readers.
* LivingToys: Well, Living Dragon Figurines.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: [[spoiler:Zanna, quite blatantly so]].
* MarkedToDie: [[spoiler:Ms.Gee, literally, by Hannah. Hannah threw her dead ancestors hand at Ms.Gee, and she caught it, dooming her to a horrible death.]]
* MeaningfulEcho: In actions, the ending of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Snigger and the Nutbeast]]'' mimics those of [[spoiler: the ending of the third book. The hero (Conker/David) is dead, but there's SomeoneToRememberHimBy.]]
* TheMentor: Yolen to Agawin in ''Fire Ascending'' and Arthur...just...y'know...in general.
* MindScrew: ''Fire Star'' is ''really'' heady for a children's book. The end of ''Dark Fire'' can also be really screwy to the mind when you try to think about what happened. In fact, the ''whole series'' becomes this starting around Book 2 or 3.
* MirrorUniverse: Every main character in ''Fire World'' has a counterpart on Earth. It's also {{Lampshaded}} in-universe.
** David is ...well, David.
** Eliza is [[spoiler: Elizabeth]].
** Harlan is [[spoiler: Arthur]].
** Penny is [[spoiler: Lucy]].
** Rosa is [[spoiler: Zanna]].
** Gwyneth is [[spoiler: Gwillana]].
** Mr. Henry is [[spoiler: Mr. Bacon]].
** Mathew is [[spoiler: Tam]].
** Angel is [[spoiler: Alexa]].
** Boon is [[spoiler: Bonnington]].
** Stromberg is [[spoiler: Bergstrom]].
* MostWritersAreWriters: David's a geology student, but becomes a writer through Gadzooks' help. [[WordOfGod d'Lacey confesses]] that David is a kind of AuthorAvatar.
* MrViceGuy: Henry Bacon of is staid, grumpy, and old-fashioned to the point of being stifling. He's not exactly a Friend to All Children. He's even the primary antagonist of the first book in the series. However, as the later books prove, he is nonetheless a loyal neighbor who truly does care about his neighbors and their friends. Even if he does think they're a little loopy.
** [[spoiler: His alternate in Fire World, Mr. Henry,]] [[AvertedTrope averts]] this trope by being a definite good guy.
* NamesTheSame: A squirrel named Conker? [[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay Where have I heard that before?]]
* NeverFoundTheBody: In ''The Fire Eternal,'' [[spoiler: teenaged!Lucy refuses to believe David is dead because of this. She's right, [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence sort of.]]]]
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[spoiler:In Fire Ascending, after the universal mess that had been created got repaired, so to speak, the universe took one more change. It plays the entire series off as books written within the series.]] See TheEndOrIsIt.
* OneWordTitle:
** The series is called ''Dragons'', and is about dragons.
** The second book, ''Icefire'', is one, and is also a {{Portmantitle}}.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Arguably one of the most extreme examples of this trope in fictional history.
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:Henry Bacon died this way.]]
* PerkyGoth: Zanna has pale skin, and wears black make-up and black clothes, but is relatively happy and has fun a lot more than normal stereotypical goths. Though she has reformed into more {{Hipster}} territory by the time The Fire Eternal kicks off.
* PinealWeirdness
* {{Portmantitle}}: The second book, ''Icefire'', which is also a OneWordTitle.
* PunctuationShaker: Dragons are fond of the traditional apostrophe (see: Things like [[MyNaymeIs "G'ravity" and "G'lant"]]). Ix go for the exotic and rarely-seen ː, in things like Ixːrisor and Premːix.
** A lot of things in ''Fire World'' have semi-colons in them, to a vast extent. To name a few, there's the world itself, Co:pern:ica, with machinery known as Com:puters, and they can send E:coms with them. Harlan teaches Phy:sics, and has a Tech:nician, Benard.
* RewritingReality: One of the first indications of anything supernatural going on is that David's short story he's writing about a squirrel is actually happening outside, effectively in parallel with his typing. As in, he mentions that the squirrel jumps onto a washing line and the Pennykettles' voices drift in from the window exclaiming about precisely that (though he doesn't pay any attention). Debatable as to whether he's writing reality or simply being precognitive, but it seems to be the first.
** [[spoiler: ''The Fire Eternal'' reveals that Arthur can do it too.]]
** [[spoiler: Gywneth had her hand in messing with the flow of time by writing her dead counterpart back into reality.]]
* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler: Hannah and Clive didn't do anything to deserve their fate.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Oh, Sophie, we hardly knew ye.]]
** [[spoiler: Gwillana could count as well.]] However, we do not see the characters reactions to it because they're all to busy. [[spoiler: They wouldn't miss her anyways, and its even lampshaded... well sort of.]]
*** [[spoiler: Fire World reverses this by having Gywneth write Gwillana [[RewritingReality back into reality]].]]
** [[spoiler: Mr.Henry in ''Fire World''. He dies because he got aged by Harlan's Time Rift.]]
** [[spoiler: Grella's fate in ''The Fire Ascending'' was a cruel, sad one. There's an entire part of the book dedicated to what happened to her.]]
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The whole point of ''The Fire Ascending''.
* MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight: Oh, Gwilanna. Why does this always crop up whenever you appear?
* ShoutOut: In ''Fire World'', some authors on the books bear resemblance to real life authors. A more obvious ShoutOut is to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', when David finds a book called Alicia in the Land of Wonder.
** Earlier on in the series there's a reference to (paraphrased from memory) '[[Literature/HarryPotter a popular series of books about a boy wizard going to school]]', and then in ''The Fire Eternal'', Gollygosh conjours up a screwdriver that 'looked very similar to the [[Series/DoctorWho screwdriver used by the time traveling hero of the dragons' favorite television programme]]'.
* ShowWithinAShow: Books Within A Book - David's writings, especially once [[spoiler: he gets published.]]
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: The end of David's first story, ''Snigger and the Nutbeast.'' And at the end of the third book, Zanna reveals she's pregnant with David's child]].
* SupportingProtagonist: In the second trilogy, David spends far less time in the limelight as opposed to the other characters. [[spoiler: And arguably, even ''he'' is just support for Alexa.]]
* TeensAreMonsters: In the fourth book, teenaged Lucy is not the same kind little girl she was.
* TheArk: [[spoiler: In Fire World, the Librarium becomes one during the flood, complete with animals and plants.]]
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: [[spoiler: Ms.Gee the sybil in ''Dark Fire''.]]
* ThemeNaming: All dragons' names begin with "G." Up to and including, [[spoiler: {{God}}ith herself.]]
** In ''Fire World'', all the Firebird's true names begin with an A.
* TimeyWimeyBall: Oh God. There are too many examples to list, though things start getting particularly crazy from ''Dark Fire'' onward. Taken to extremes in ''The Fire Ascending''.
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Agawin is Alexa.]]
* TouchedByVorlons: When the Fain commingle with people, they tend to leave quite a bit of residue behind.
* TrilogyCreep: The first three books form a definite trilogy, with a complete story, and a ''very'' definite ending. The rest do continue it, but begin a new story arc altogether.
* TwoPartTrilogy: An ''inverse'' of the way it usually happens - the first two books form a more complete and coherent story, with the third one being more separate.
* UnfazedEveryman: Henry Bacon - he never ''really'' knows what's going on, but he provides sturdiness in all the chaos surrounding him.
* WhaleEgg: Descendants of Guinivere hatch from eggs. ItMakesSenseInContext.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Alexa in Book Four. It's strongly implied that [[spoiler: she chose her own parents and family before her birth, and has been manipulating things behind the scenes for a long time beforehand.]]
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: [[spoiler: The Mark of the Oomara. By the fourth book, though, Zanna's arm is better.]]
* WrongGirlFirst: [[spoiler: Sophie]]
* WritersCannotDoMath: If Gawain was the last dragon 50,000 years ago, why was [[spoiler: there a dragon fighting monks at the monastery Arthur serves at in present day? That would give a range of 1000 years, give or take, from present day.]]
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: [[spoiler: Happened to Gwillana when she seen the inverted version of Gawain's head. She died from the sight of the ''thing''.]]

** Similarly, in the third book in the series, ''Fire Star,'' it's revealed that [[spoiler:Zanna is pregnant with David's baby.]] Since this is a children's book series, no direct reference to them having sex is ever mentioned. However, this is actually a bit of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Crap Gotten Past The Radar]]--early in the book, around the time said baby would logically have been conceived, it's mentioned that the two characters "spent the night keeping each other warm," said with a knowing leer.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Quite a bit of it, usually with regards to [[GRatedSex dancing around the issue of sex.]]
** [[http://books.google.com/books?id=er7AV7_QY9AC&pg=PT46&lpg=PT46&dq=author+boy+fire+star&source=bl&ots=ZXROHcEgVG&sig=V_iVtb92VQ6gd3OahRDGwfwohnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MGMfU4WkCuewyQGx5IHYDQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=author%20boy%20fire%20star&f=false This]] from ''Fire Star''. Read this while keeping in mind that Zanna was sitting on David's lap. Wow. Try reading this WITHOUT saying it in a seductive voice. It's impossible
** "She never lets ''me'' catch her up."
** "Been spending a lot of time keeping each other warm?"
** In the second book, Dr. Bergstrom lets David use his good luck talisman for, well, good luck. When he discusses the matter with Zanna later, he asks her, "Did you shake his totem?" This elicits a shocked "''[[ThatCameOutWrong Pardon?!]]''" before David explains himself.
** When David is blatantly checking out Zanna's butt while thinking, "Wow, she has a great figure" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Yes, this is children's literature.]]

The series begins when David, an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary College Student]], starts looking for a place to stay during his term. He finds a woman named Elizabeth "Liz" Pennykettle, who is renting out part of her house on a street called Wayward Crescent. David moves in with her and her ten-year-old daughter, Lucy. Liz is an artist - she makes clay dragons, and even gives David a dragon of his own, whom he names Gadzooks. As David settles into life with the Pennykettles, he starts noticing strange things - movement in the corner of his eye here, the feeling of being watched there, and odd noises everywhere. Through his adventures with Lucy, he soon realizes that there is more to the Pennykettles than there seems. Some of the dragons they make are just statuary, but some of them are ''alive.'' David refuses to believe this at first - but his sudden inspiration to write stories, and Gadzooks' own pen and paper, soon force him into believing that there is more to Wayward Crescent than meets the eye.

David is soon dragged deep into the secret history and world of dragons. Liz and Lucy are among the last protectors of the world's dragons - descendants of Guinivere, a maiden who befriended the last "true" dragon. Dragons aren't the big beasts they once were - now, they must take clay bodies. But they still have dragon's sparks, deep down. And David and the Pennykettles must protect them from all who would do them harm!

* ExpressDelivery: [[spoiler: It does not take long for the quickened bronze egg to turn into a baby. Too bad Gwilanna turned him from a perfectly normal (well, for a Pennykettle) boy into a dragon.)]]

** [[MauveShirt Minor character]] Hannah in ''Dark Fire]]'' gets torn apart in an ''incredibly'' vicious way due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time--she is [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled through the chest]] on a dragon's talon, with ''visceral'' descriptions of her blood oozing down and her organs ''popping through her skin speared on the dragon's claws.'' [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This series is targeted at the 8-12 age bracket, of course.]]

* ''The Fire Within'' - The first book in the series. It centers around David moving in with the Pennykettles, getting a dragon, eventually discovering they are actually alive, and writing a story about a squirrel named Snigger. This book contains most of the information about the series above.
* ''Icefire'' - The second book. David must find proof that dragons are real for an essay for his mysterious college proffesor Dr. Bergstrom. It also introduces a major character, Zanna. She accidentally [[spoiler: kindles a dragon egg, which causes a child to be hatched from it.]] This causes major series antagonist Gwillana to arrive at the Pennykettle household. Geillana hopes to [[spoiler: turn the child into a dragon and use it for her own purposes.]]
* ''Fire Star'' - The Third book. This book is signifigantly longer that the previous 2 and has a more complex plot. David and Zanna take a trip to the Arctic, and David writes a story featuring Gwillana that gradually begins to come true. Also, Gwillana captures Lucy so that she can resurrect the dragon Gawain. This book introduces the character Arthur, Liz's former boyfriend, who [[spoiler:created David by writing about him.]] It also introduces a race called the Fain who exist in an another dimension and are incredibly important to the whole series. The book ends with [[spoiler:David supposedly dying and Zanna pregnant with his child.]]
* ''The Fire Eternal'' - The fourth book. 5 years after ''Fire Star,'' Zanna and the Pennykettles are still not sure that [[spoiler:David really died.]] They meet the journalist Tam Farrel, who believes that [[spoiler:David never existed.]] They search for more information about the identity of David, but Lucy [[spoiler:is captured by a group of people posessed by an evil branch of the Fain known as the Ix. They force her to create a creature called a darkling, which they hope to use to destroy all dragons.]] This book is mostly a transition between ''Fire Star'' and later books in the series. However, it also reveals more information about David, Gwillana, and the Ix.
* ''Dark Fire'' - The fifth book. This one is much DarkerAndEdgier than the previous books. In it, David, the Pennykettles, and Zanna must stop Gwillana from giving dark fire, the deadliest force in the universe, to the Ix. If the Ix obtain it, they could destroy the entire world. However, Gwillana demands that she be [[spoiler:commingled with a dragon (the ultimate goal of each Fain.)]] It ends with a GainaxEnding in which [[spoiler:the main characters are able to destroy the dark fire but all suddenly disappear without a trace.]]
* ''Fire World'' - The sixth book. This book is notable for being one of the only AlternateRealityEpisodes in literature. Following the GainaxEnding of the previous book, the reader is introduced to an alternate world where alternate versions of the main characters exist.
* ''The Fire Ascending'' - The final book.

* ''The Fire Within''
* ''Icefire''
* ''Fire Star''
* ''The Fire Eternal''
* ''Dark Fire''
* ''Fire World''
* ''The Fire Ascending''

** Similarly, in the third book in the series, ''Firestar,'' it's revealed that [[spoiler:Zanna is pregnant with David's baby.]] Since this is a children's book series, no direct reference to them having sex is ever mentioned. However, this is actually a bit of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Crap Gotten Past The Radar]]--early in the book, around the time said baby would logically have been conceived, it's mentioned that the two characters "spent the night keeping each other warm," said with a knowing leer.

** [[http://books.google.com/books?id=er7AV7_QY9AC&pg=PT46&lpg=PT46&dq=author+boy+fire+star&source=bl&ots=ZXROHcEgVG&sig=V_iVtb92VQ6gd3OahRDGwfwohnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MGMfU4WkCuewyQGx5IHYDQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=author%20boy%20fire%20star&f=false This]] from Firestar. Read this while keeping in mind that Zanna was sitting on David's lap. Wow. Try reading this WITHOUT saying it in a seductive voice. It's impossible

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: David dies at the end of ''Firestar''. Initially, this looked like it would be the end of the series, making it an unusually harsh ending for a book aimed at the 8-12 bracket. The series ''did'' [[TrilogyCreep creep on,]] and David came [[BackFromTheDead Back From The]] [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Higher Plane Of Existence,]] with the implication being that ''he became one with {{God}}(ith) and saw all the knowledge in the universe through his daughter's eyes'', but if unexpected, the ending of ''Firestar'' can be a real punch]].

* MindScrew: ''Fire Star'' is ''really'' heady for a children's book. The end of ''Dark Fire'' can also be really screwy to the mind when you try to think about what happened.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent

* RewritingReality: One of the first indications of anything supernatural going on is that David's short story he's writing about a squirrel is actually happening outside effectively parallel with his typing. As in, he mentions that the squirrel jumps onto a washing line and the Pennykettles' voices drift in from the window exclaiming about precisely that (though he doesn't pay any attention.) Debatable as to whether he's writing reality or simply being precognitive, but it seems to be the first.

* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: [[spoiler: Happened to Gwillana when she seen the inverted version of Gawains head. She died from the sight of the ''thing''.]]

* TheChosenMany: [[spoiler: Liz and Lucy aren't the only descendants of Guinevere running around, and on the flipside, Gwilanna isn't the only nasty sibyl...]]

* GRatedSex: In [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]], by Chris D'Lacey, it is possible for descendants of Gwendolyn to "quicken" (become pregnant) when thinking about motherhood or the ones they love, which typically results in [[WhaleEgg human babies born from clay eggs.]] In one case, however, a bit of [[AWizardDidIt magic]] results in a ''dragon baby'' being born in such a fashion. ItMakesSenseInContext.
** Similarly, in the third book in the series, ''Firestar,'' it's revealed that [[spoiler: Zanna is pregnant with David's baby.]] Since this is a children's book series, no direct reference to them having sex is ever mentioned. However, this is actually a bit of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Crap Gotten Past The Radar]]--early in the book, around the time said baby would logically have been conceived, it's mentioned that the two characters "spent the night keeping each other warm," said with a knowing leer.

* {{God}}: [[spoiler: Is the first dragon, named Godith. ''All'' dragon's names [[ThemeNaming start with G.]] [[RunningGag Every last one.]]]]

* HonoraryUncle: Liz and [[spoiler: Arthur]] are this to Alexa.

* [[LivingToys Living Dragon Figurines]]

* MarkedToDie: [[spoiler: Ms.Gee, literally, by Hannah. Hannah threw her dead ancestors hand at Ms.Gee, and she caught it, dooming her to a horrible death.]]

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[spoiler:In Fire Ascending, after the universal mess that had been created got repaired, so to speak, the universe took one more change. It plays the entire series off as books writen within the series.]] See TheEndOrIsIt.
* TheEndOrIsIt: The ending of Fire Ascending, though specified as definite by D'lacey, seemed...less then definite. [[spoiler: Though the ending was played off as a NestedStoryReveal, Bergstrom had the mark of Oomara which David never knew about, and Gadzooks [[RealAfterAll came alive]] on Elizabeth's grave...]]

** A lot of things in ''Fire World'' have semi-colons in them, to a vast extent. To name a few, theres the world itself, Co:pern:ica, with machinery known as Com:puters, and they can send E:coms with them. Harlan teaches Phy:sics, and has a Tech:nician, Benard.

** [[spoiler: Gwillana could count as well.]] However, we do not see the characters reactions to it because they're all to busy. [[spoiler: They wouldn't miss her anyways, and its even lampshaded...well sort of.]]

** [[spoiler: Mr.Henry in ''Fire World''. He dies because he got aged by Harlans Time Rift.]]

* ArcWords: "Sometimes".

* ArcWords: Sometimes.

* [[spoiler: TheChosenMany]]: [[spoiler: Liz and Lucy aren't the only descendants of Guinevere running around, and on the flipside, Gwilanna isn't the only nasty sibyl...]]

* [[spoiler: TheHeroDies]]: [[spoiler: David dies at the end of ''Firestar''. Initially, this looked like it would be the end of the series, making it an unusually harsh ending for a book aimed at the 8-12 bracket. The series ''did'' [[TrilogyCreep creep on,]] and David came [[BackFromTheDead Back From The]] [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Higher Plane Of Existence,]] with the implication being that ''he became one with {{God}}(ith) and saw all the knowledge in the universe through his daughter's eyes'', but if unexpected, the ending of ''Firestar'' can be a real punch]].

* [[spoiler: ManicPixieDreamGirl]]: Zanna, quite blatantly so.

* [[spoiler: SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]: The end of David's first story, ''Snigger and the Nutbeast.'' And at the end of the third book, [[spoiler: Zanna reveals she's pregnant with David's child.]]

* [[spoiler: AlternateRealityEpisode: Fire World.]]

* [[spoiler: AmnesiacGod:]] Actually it'd be [[spoiler: Amnesiac Fain,]] but for all intents and purposes, [[spoiler: David and Alexa]] would be very nearly as powerful.

* [[spoiler: BolivianArmyEnding]]: ''Dark Fire.''

* [[spoiler: GooGooGodlike]]: Alexa. [[spoiler: She ''created her own father.'']] Oh, and [[spoiler: Joseph Henry]] is just as bad.

* [[spoiler: NothingIsTheSameAnymore: In Fire Ascending, after the universal mess that had been created got repaired, so to speak, the universe took one more change. It plays the entire series off as books writen within the series.]] See TheEndOrIsIt.

* [[spoiler: PeacefulInDeath: Henry Bacon died this way.]]

* [[spoiler: TheArk: In Fire World, the Librarium becomes one during the flood, complete with animals and plants.]]
* [[spoiler: TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: Ms.Gee the sybil in ''Dark Fire''.]]

* [[http://books.google.com/books?id=er7AV7_QY9AC&pg=PT46&lpg=PT46&dq=author+boy+fire+star&source=bl&ots=ZXROHcEgVG&sig=V_iVtb92VQ6gd3OahRDGwfwohnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MGMfU4WkCuewyQGx5IHYDQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=author%20boy%20fire%20star&f=false This]] from Firestar. Read this while keeping in mind that Zanna was sitting on David's lap. Wow. Try reading this WITHOUT saying it in a seductive voice. It's impossible

** Earlier on in the series there's a reference to (paraphrased from memory) '[[Literature/HarryPotter a popular series of books about a boy wizard going to school]]', and then in ''The Fire Eternal'', Gollygosh conjours up a screwdriver that 'looked very similar to the [[Series/DoctorWho screwdriver used by the time travelling hero of the dragons' favourite television programme]]'.

* TwoPartTrilogy: An ''inverse'' of the way it usually happens - the first two books form a more complete and coherent story, with the third one being more seperate.

** When David is blatantly checking out Zanna's butt while thinking, "Wow, she has a great figure" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Yes, this is children's literature.

* PerkyGoth: Zanna has pale skin, and wears black make-up and black clothes, but is relatively happy and has fun a lot more than normal stereotypical goths.

* SetWrongWhatOnceWentRight: Oh, Gwilanna. Why does this always crop up whenever you appear?

* RewritingReality: David seems to be doing this in ''The Fire Within,'' with Gadzooks' help. He's understandably confused. [[spoiler: ''The Fire Eternal'' reveals that Arthur can do it too.]]

* PerkyGoth: Zanna.

* MrViceGuy: Mr. Bacon. He's the main antagonist for most of the first book, but he's not actually a bad person at all--just curmudgeonly. He becomes a grumpy good guy in the later books. [[spoiler: His alternate in Fire World, Mr. Henry,]] [[AvertedTrope averts]] this trope by being a definite good guy.

* LighterAndSofter: The spin-off series, focusing on the dragons themselves, is written for very young readers.